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Liverpool’s Premier League clash with بورنموث was briefly halted in the first half of their 4-2 win on Friday after Semenyo flagged the mistreatment to the referee. Now, Masters has said that nobody should “suffer that sort of abuse”, explained the turn of events that transpired after the incident, and that this is a “problem for society”.
He told BBC Sport: “No Premier League footballer should ever have to, in their workplace or online, suffer that sort of abuse. It is important that we keep saying that. We have offered our support to Antoine, as has everybody. I think everyone can see the protocol is being overseen and was affected yesterday. Once Antoine had made it clear to the match official about what had happened, Anthony Taylor brought the game to a halt and talked to both managers, and spoke directly to the stadium’s security official. That allowed them to identify the individual and escort the person off the premises, and I understand he was detained by the police. That’s the way it should work. It is a problem for society. It leaks into football, and it shouldn’t happen in a football stadium. It shouldn’t happen online. It makes people like me and other football people in charge of the game think twice about what else we can do to ensure that these things don’t happen in the future.”
Merseyside Police later said a 47-year-old man from Liverpool was identified, removed from Anfield following the report, and then arrested on Saturday on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence – before being taken into custody. Bournemouth star Semenyo, who scored twice in the game, later said that “football showed its best side” following the support he had received but this is a problem that is unlikely to go away completely.
As Masters alluded to, Premier League figureheads will likely take this incident under consideration in a bid to find a way to stop instances like this from happening again. Harsher bans for those found guilty could be one deterrent, but eradicating this entirely is not an easy task.
